AMD resigns from industry group associated with BAPCo and won’t endorse SYSmark 2012

AMD has announced today that it has separated from the industry group BAPCo. AMD has also announced that it will not endorse the SYSMark 2012 benchmark suite. SYSmark is a benchmarking program that is often used by publications in print and online to test the performance of computer system. The benchmark is intended to be an open representation of performance for computers that is comparable between brands to show the performance of one brand compared to another.

AMD notes that it will only endorse benchmarks that are based on real-world computing modes and software applications that provide useful information for the people using the application. AMD also noted that it thinks all benchmarks should be constructed in a manner that allows for unbiased and transparent results. AMD is evaluating other benchmark suites. The downside to this is that with AMD pulling out of BAPCo support the results between Intel and AMD based systems will be harder to compare.

AMD is also working to create another industry association to establish an open benchmark for overall system performance. AMD's chief marketing officer Nigel Dessau said:

Technology is evolving at an incredible pace, and customers need clear and reliable measurements to understand the expected performance and value of their systems. AMD does not believe SM2012 achieves this objective. Hence AMD cannot endorse or support SM2012 or remain part of the BAPCo consortium.